A microcell-based indoor communication has a character that there is a great difference between the communication traffic during the day and the communication traffic at night. Besides, a communication requirement does not always exist since the coverage of a microcell is small. Therefore, how to realize smart energy saving in a microcell is becoming one of the main research subjects of environmentally-friendly communication technologies.
The prior art provides an energy saving solution of an indoor Femto Cell (Femto Cell) AP (Access Point) based on noise power detection.
The Femto Cell AP and a macrocell base station work on different frequency bands. The Femto Cell AP can deem a signal that is sent from a user equipment to a macro network as noise, and judge whether there is a user residing in the Femto Cell using noise power detection technology. If detecting that the transmission power of the user equipment is higher than a preset noise power detection threshold, then the Femto Cell AP switches from an idle state to an active state; otherwise, the Femto Cell AP stays in the idle state. Being in the idle state means that the Femto Cell AP sends no pilot signal, and being in the active state means that the Femto Cell AP sends pilot signals.
During implementing the present disclosure, the inventor finds that the prior art has at least the following problems:
The application scope of the above smart energy saving solution of the Femto Cell based on noise power detection is limited. When the Femto Cell is not covered by a macrocell, energy saving of the Femto Cell cannot be realized according to the above energy saving solution. Besides, when interference of the exterior noise is large, the Femto Cell AP may be mis-activated since the detected exterior noise is high, and thus, energy saving cannot be realized actually.